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Old 07-02-2009, 07:23 AM   #1
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Cleaning Air conditioner coils ??

Is ther any benifit to getting up on a ladder and spraying the back of the air conditioner, with the water hose, in hopes of cleaning the coils/fins, (even just a little) ?


I know the best way is to get up on the roof etc. But that's not an option for me.

any info appreciated.

thanks
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Old 07-03-2009, 07:15 AM   #2
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Re: Cleaning Air conditioner coils ??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunline1
Is ther any benifit to getting up on a ladder and spraying the back of the air conditioner, with the water hose, in hopes of cleaning the coils/fins, (even just a little) ?


I know the best way is to get up on the roof etc. But that's not an option for me.

any info appreciated.

thanks
A garden hose alone won't do much good. You may actually just wind up jamming the crud further into the fins with the water pressure.

If you can't get on the roof (and believe me, I understand that, I'm terrified of heights, and the coach roof is about as high as I can go) then perhaps you can get someone to lend a hand?

When cleaning coils, I'll first vacuum out the heavy crud with a shop vac and a brush attachment. Then clean with the appropriate solution, which is available from any professional HVAC/Refrigeration supplier. The one word of caution in this application would be that one should check the contents of the cleaner before letting it run all over their rubber roof/coach sides.

Cleaning the condenser coil on my home unit dropped the vent temps 6 degrees...

- Frank
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Old 07-03-2009, 09:12 AM   #3
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Frank

My sunline is an 2002 which I bought new, and the coils have never been cleaned.

I'm noticing the air doesn't seam as cool comming out of the roof vents, and in genereal it's not cooling the unit.

This spring I ran cable (TV), out to the camper, and have been out there watching TV, when my interests, are different than the rest of the family.

I have a lazy boy recliner in the camper so I can be as comfortable as in the house. Maybe a little more comfortable because there are certainly less distractions in the camper ie no talking telephone ringing etc.

I will follow your advise and get some help and get the coils cleaned.
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Old 07-05-2009, 08:32 PM   #4
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I actually did this project this past weekend. First, from what I have read there are a couple of definite benefits to cleaning the coils, but you want to clean both the Condenser and evaporator coils. By cleaning both sets of coils, you not only make your A/C unit more efficient at cooling your rig, but the from what I have read, an A/C unit with clean coils can draw 2 amps less power.

Now I know you said, you can't be up on the roof, so you may need to get someone to do this for you. Cleaning the condenser coils are easy to get to, where as the evaporater coils are a little more difficult. To clean both sets of coils, you need to remove the A/C shroud which is held on by 4 screws. This is very easy. The condeser coils are easy to get to and are at the back of the unit. Now I sprayed them down with Awesome and let them sit for about 4 minutes and then rinsed them out with water. I was amazed at the dirt that came out.

The evaporator coils are a little more difficult and tricky to get too, but can be easily done if you take your time. Now I will first caution you that on some units, there maybe screws of different lengths and very between pointed and blunt ends. It is important to take note of which holes they came out of and put them back in the exact same spot. This is important because they are designed to miss hitting or punturing various other components near where the screws are located.

Once the screws are removed, carefully remove the metal cover. As you remove it, you will see a foam tape on the metal shroud, This is there to prevent water form leaking though the seam. With this cover removed, you will now see the opening into the trailer where the cool air enters the rig. Before you do anything place a towel over this hole to prevent any water from coming into the rig when you rinse the coils.

I then sprayed the evaporator coils with awesome and let it stand for 4 -5 minutes. I then again rinses the coils with water on a gentle spray being careful to direct it away from the opening going into the trailer. Again the amount of dirt that came out was amazing. Now while you have the A/C unit opened up. Check to make sure the drain holes both at the metal plate at the base of the evaporator coils and the entire A/C unit base plate are clean. This is important as this is where the water drains out of the A/C unit when it is on.

Now put everything back together, being careful to put the screws back into the same hole in the metal shroud covering the evaporator coils.

Sorry, I did not take any photos of this project.
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Old 07-06-2009, 06:10 AM   #5
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Trailblazer

Thanks for the detailed explanation of what needs to be done.

I will reference your message when i get someone to get up on the roof.

My brother is comming in from out of town, in a about 2 week he the best candidate for the roof top.

Regards
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Old 07-06-2009, 07:17 AM   #6
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There is actually a good blog article about how to do this with pictures over on RV.Net. Just do a search for the term A/C tuneup on there site and the link will come up.
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Old 07-06-2009, 12:56 PM   #7
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Trailblazer

Thanks for the heads up on the RVnet site.

will check it out.
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Old 07-06-2009, 03:34 PM   #8
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Hi Folks

http://blog.rv.net/2008/05/tech-tune...ur-rooftop-ac/

Here is the link, I think..., Trailbalzer was refering to.

Something I need to read up more on and go out and do...

Thanks for the leads

John
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Old 07-06-2009, 06:41 PM   #9
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Quote:
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Hi Folks

http://blog.rv.net/2008/05/tech-tune...ur-rooftop-ac/

Here is the link, I think..., Trailbalzer was refering to.

Something I need to read up more on and go out and do...

Thanks for the leads

John
Yup, that's the article.
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